Her daughter was out with friends and not expected home till 2am. Charlie was seated in front of his computer; absorbed entirely. She'd had to put his dinner on the desk in front of him to get him to eat again tonight. She smiled slightly. She loved to see him happy; and he was happy while working. He had been without work once, and it was a painful thing to see. However, it was also painful knowing that she placed a distant second to the flickering pixels on his screen. She shook her head to clear the creeping onset of melancholy: tonight she had a date. This night could not have turned out more conveniently if Krystal had tried to orchestrate it all herself. She was taking herself out tonight. She had purchased a ticket to see one of her favored bands of unusual genre and paid for the “after party” as well. She would have just enough time to shower off the day’s work, change her clothing and apply a bit of make-up. She would take her work uniform with her and drive her limousine just in case she got a call for a late pick up; being a second generation chauffeur, she knew that the last minute late night clients were often the most lucrative.
The night was cool and crisp as she stepped outside, and it felt absolutely electric. As she reached the bottom of the front steps her heart began to race; it had been years since she’d gone out alone. All at once she wanted to scream and laugh maniacally; she felt like she had at thirteen sneaking out of her parents’ house after curfew. She all but ran to the side of the house, rolled back the big gate in front of the garage and activated the garage door. Fortunately, she needn’t worry about the squeaking wheels of the gate or the grinding and groaning of the garage door opener; the house was well insulated and had marvelous triple pane windows which blocked nearly all sound from outside. And there, gleaming in the automatic garage lighting was her baby. Lillopea was a long, low, gorgeous 2016 Lincoln MKS limousine in classic black. The car was a statement of elegance with just a few custom touches which allowed her to transition from stately to outrageous with the flip of a switch. The only perpetual departure from staunch dignity was her nose ring. Affixed to the ‘septum’ of the grill was a silver nose ring. It was adorned with various silver beads and as it’s focal piece, a gremlin bell embossed with a rose in full bloom and having a singular gleaming jewel at it’s center. Krystal rounded the car quickly and slid into the driver’s seat, tossing her go bag into the back of the car through the privacy partition. She paused a moment and then turned the key and listened to Lillopea roar to life. “Good evening Lillopea, let’s go out, just you and I.” Krystal said this in a voice barely above a whisper as she slowly pulled out of the garage and down the driveway to the road, closing the garage door remotely. As she rolled up to the road, Krystal realized that she was holding her breath, and let it out with a laugh. She shook her head and turned out onto the road to make her way to the concert venue, floating away on high spirits and Lillopea’s gossamer suspension.
Forty-five minutes later, Krystal pulled up to a stop for the guard at the entrance to the parking area of the concert hall. She asked the guards about parking and was told that her best bet would be to park at the back of the building with the buses so as not to be blocked in by less aware drivers. Lillopea’s purring silhouette oozed around the parking lot, gleaming in the blueish light of the street lamps. Krystal took the long route around the outside edge of the lot; she had plenty if time. The back of the building was markedly different from the front. The look was altogether more spartan and functional as was usual. The parking spaces here were much larger, designed specifically with limousines, buses, and trucks in mind and the backside of the structure itself was plain and populated with loading bay doors and service entrances. She parked as far away from the building as she could get; no sense in inviting fender benders or any misunderstandings. Krystal paused for a moment and looked around the cab of her car lovingly. She stroked the dashboard and patted it lightly then exited the vehicle. As she walked away she listened for the musical chiming which told her that Lillopea had successfully locked all of the doors. The chiming was one of the upgrades Krystal had made; the sound of an automotive horn to signify that the alarm was armed seemed too barbaric for a limousine. Satisfied that Lillopea was now safe, Krystal moved quickly across the empty parking lot to the only entrance with a glass door through which she could see a guard plainly. As she neared the front of the building, she began to hear the muffled sounds of the crowd and as she stepped through the doors to the hall itself she lost herself in the excitement and sound and let herself be carried away into the crowd.
The concert was everything she had wanted it to be and more. She felt not herself, but someone better. Now, she found herself enjoying the food, the drinks, and the comradery of those who shared her love of music. Somehow, she found herself talking to the backstage crew members and being pulled along into conversation and then suddenly she was being introduced to one of the singer/songwriters of the band. He was taller than he looked on stage, and though it was impossible to tell his age through all of the stage makeup he looked very young; the passage of time had yet to dull the sharp, high cheekbones or the strong jaw. But his eyes were what pulled everyone in. They were a clear blue like the deep calm of a crystaline spring.
He looked from the crew member to Krystal and in that instant their eyes locked. Out of life long training by her father, she offered her hand and introduced herself politely. And, instead of the usual handshake he bowed low over her hand – his eyes never leaving hers. His hands were just as cold as hers although the room was warm. They stood for a moment; a moment awkward for those in close proximity. The moment was softened when he suddenly became reanimated and leaned close to be heard above the crowd, “Would you like something to drink?”
Cold as his hands may have been she can feel the radiant heat of his body and the energy blazing from within him. “Yes, thank you.” came her reply. She felt as if she were watching all of this happen from somewhere beneath the shell of her outward appearance. Still holding her hand lightly, he led her through the crowd; not to the bar, but to a small door behind it. He closed the door after her and they stepped through a black curtain into a small, plush parlor comfortably furnished in rich reds and warm woods, with sound dampening draperies on the walls making the din of the party muffled and nearly nonexistent. “Please, make yourself at home.” he said, as he bowed her into the room. Then, crossing to a small bar he retrieved two bottles of water. He joined her on the small red velvet couch where she had settled herself and offered her one of the bottles. “Our clock rates matched perfectly.” He said abruptly, and almost before he could finish she replied: “The turning of her every gear hummed in tune with mine.” He reached for a pencil and a notebook on the coffee table and began writing excitedly.
She felt herself freed as if he had pried open a rusted metal door with his words. An electric piano appeared from somewhere. She spent the next hour or two in a state of creative intoxication as this mad collaboration continued; unleashing lyrics and thrashing out melody. It seemed he could hear the music in her head; it was a current in the room around them. The end result was an electrically charged orgasm of the heart. At some point a couple of the other band members entered the room and began looking over the finished sheets of music he had laid out on the table. The music was infectious and the energy in the room exploded. The band had decided to give their attending fans a treat; the first run of their newest song. She found herself carried along out into the crowd once more as the band set up amidst the excited murmurings of the fans. The music flowed out of her heart and was met by it's echo from the band. Then, his voice came in, and it seemed her heart would speed itself to a dramatic end. Her breathing heaved and tears streamed hot; burning rivulets of painful ecstasy. His eyes wandered through the crowd and found hers. Suddenly, an awful thought cut through her consciousness: I am not who he imagines me to be. The last resounding note of the song was obliterated by the ear splitting approval of fans, and the mob of people pushing her away from the band made her progress toward the exit go completely unnoticed. The thought of him ever finding the over thirty mother beneath the make up and the costume she wore killed her. Let tonight's muse and it's memory remain forever untarnished in this artist’s mind; associated with the reality screaming toward her with the coming morning.
Tonight she was somewhat glad of the lengthy walk necessary to reach the back of the parking lot where she’d left Lillopea; it gave her a few more moments of tonight being a reality before she had to consign it to being nothing more than a marvelous dream. The thought was bitter.
She entered her limousine through one of the rear doors, a stunningly gorgeous young woman; she changed out of her costume, removed all traces of makeup, brushed out her hair and donned her chauffeur's cap. Then, she exited through the other rear door, a nice looking though unremarkable woman whom, it would not have been surprising to find was a thirty-something mother. She stopped short after opening the driver's door to look back at the music hall she had just left. The bright street lamp under which she had parked ruined her night vision utterly and all she could make out was the basic lines of the now darkened doorway through which she had exited. She slid into the driver's seat, closed the door, and woke up from the most heart wrenchingly fantastic dream.
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